The prime minister of India is assassinated - Oct 31, 1984 - HISTORY.com The prime minister of India is assassinated Share this: The prime minister of India is assassinated Author The prime minister of India is assassinated URL Publisher A+E Networks Indira Gandhi, the prime minister of India, is assassinated in New Delhi by two of her own bodyguards. Beant Singh and Satwant Singh, both Sikhs, emptied their guns into Gandhi as she walked to her office from an adjoining bungalow. Although the two assailants immediately surrendered, they were both shot in a subsequent scuffle, and Beant died. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India, attempted to forge a unified nation out of the many religious, ethnic, and cultural factions that existed under British rule until 1949. His daughter, Indira Gandhi (no relation to Mohandas Gandhi), rose to power in 1966, fighting many of the same problems as her father had.

Her own political career was a roller coaster, from the highs following India’s victory over Pakistan in 1971 to the lows of being thrown out of office in 1977 after declaring a state of emergency in 1975, during which time she suspended civil liberties and jailed her political opponents. Although many criticized her for being authoritarian, the majority of the population supported her because of her extensive social programs. In 1980, Gandhi became prime minister again, enjoying fairly widespread popularity. However, in June 1984, she ordered an army raid on a Sikh temple in Punjab to flush out armed Sikh extremists, setting off a series of death threats. Due to the fear of assassination, Beant Singh, her longtime bodyguard, was to be transferred because he was a Sikh. However, Gandhi personally rescinded the transfer order because she trusted him after his many years of service. Obviously, this was a fatal mistake for both of them. Satwant Singh, who survived to stand trial, was convicted in 1986 and executed in 1989. Following Gandhi’s assassination, riots broke out in New Delhi.

More than 1,000 innocent Sikhs were killed in indiscriminate attacks over the course of two days. Gandhi’s son, Rajiv, succeeded her as prime minister. Related Videos 31st October 1984: Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated 31st October 1984: Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated “I am alive today, I may not be there tomorrow . . . I do not care whether I live or die . . . I have lived a long life and I am proud that I spent the whole of my life in the service of my people . . . I shall continue to serve till my last breath and when I die, every drop of my blood will strengthen India and keep a united India alive.” It was almost as if she knew that the end was near. Just a day after she said these words at a speech in Orissa (now Odisha), Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was dead, shot and killed by her own Sikh bodyguards.

The October 31, 1984 assassination of Indira Gandhi was one of the most traumatic events in India’s recent history, as she had dominated the country’s politics, and often its imagination, for nearly two decades. The anti-Sikh riots that followed her death only added to the bleakness that enveloped large parts of North India in the winter of 1984. The writer V.S. Naipaul summed up the pessimism in an article in The New York Times, days after Gandhi’s death: “It would be foolhardy to make prophecies about India now. Indira Gandhi gave it stability; a strength at the centre. Without her, that ceases to exist.” In the end, though the prophets of doom were proved wrong about India, 1984 continues to be remembered as one of the worst years in independent India’s history (it was also the year of the infamous Bhopal gas leak). To put the upheaval in Punjab into some sort of context, one needs to go back to the events of the earlier decade. In 1977, a coalition led by the Sikh political outfit, Akali Dal, came into power in Punjab.

Later, in order to get her party, the Congress, back into reckoning in Punjab, a state with a Sikh majority, Gandhi, along with her son Sanjay and home minister Zail Singh, decided to promote Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, a radical Sikh preacher. The move would spectacularly backfire. Bhindranwale’s popularity grew in parts of Punjab, particularly in certain rural pockets, and he gathered around him a cadre of committed followers. In 1979, more than a dozen people were killed in a sectarian clash involving Nirankaris and Bhindranwale’s supporters. Things would only get bloodier after this. In its April 30, 1983 cover story on rising extremism in Punjab, India Today magazine reported: “Violence on an unprecedented scale has gripped the state. Acts of terrorism, bomb blasts, murder and lootings have become a daily routine. The increased militancy [. . .] could prove to be [. . .] the beginning of a long and bitter battle.” In July 1982, Bhindranwale campaigned to implement the Anandpur Sahib Resolution, which called for greater autonomy for Punjab.

The demand for Khalistan, a separate Sikh state, began to be heard more frequently. In 1983, Bhindranwale and his supporters made the holiest Sikh shrine, Amritsar’s Golden Temple, their base camp and started piling up weapons. Despite repeated talks with the government, they refused to budge out of the temple. The Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, finally, in perhaps her most controversial decision after imposing the Emergency in 1975, ordered the army to storm the Golden Temple, in what was known as Operation Blue Star. Bhindranwale and many of his supporters were killed and the shrine extensively damaged in the operation, on June 6, 1984. The casualties﻿ among security forces and civilians also ran into hundreds. Many Sikhs, even those critical of Bhindranwale, were shocked to see their sacred place reduced to ruins. Gandhi’s government, on the other hand, believed that Bhindranwale’s armed take-over of the shrine had left the Indian state with few options. Militant Sikh groups and some of Bhindranwale’s devotees were now determined to target the Prime Minister.

In the end, the revenge would be carried out by those entrusted to protect her. In her well-researched biography of Gandhi, Indira: The life of Indira Nehru Gandhi, Katherine Frank revisits the morning of October 31, 1984, when the prime minister stepped out of her house. “At the far end of the bougainvillaea-bordered path, Indira saw her bodyguard, Beant Singh, standing at the wicket gate . . . Not far away [. . .] was a young, new constable named Satwant Singh who had not yet seen Indira at close range. [She] broke off [her] conversation (with her aide R.K. Dhawan) to acknowledge her bodyguards, holding her hands up to them, prayer-like, in the namaste greeting.” Beant Singh responded by pointing his revolver at Gandhi. She reportedly said, “What are you doing?” In the next few seconds, before anyone else could react, Beant and Satwant, who held an automatic Sten gun, shot her more than 25 times. Gandhi was rushed to Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences, but the wounds were too many and too serious.

She was declared dead in the afternoon. The assassination would have enormous consequences -- from the shameful anti-Sikh riots in its immediate aftermath to the explosive growth of militancy in Punjab. But for many Indians, just the absence of Indira Gandhi was hard to imagine. As India Today put it then: “She was a giant among pygmies . . . [There was] [s]hock, disbelief, anger [after her assassination]. But at the end was a terrible silence, as the sheer enormity of the tragedy gradually dawned.” Also on this day: 1875 — Vallabhbhai Patel, India’s first home minister and a founding father of the Indian Republic, was born 1895 — C.N. Nayudu, first Indian cricket Test captain, was born 1943 — Oommen Chandy, Chief Minister of Kerala, was born Browse by BBC ON THIS DAY | 31 | 1984: Indian prime minister shot dead 1984: Indian prime minister shot dead Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India, has been killed by assassins in New Delhi. Mrs Gandhi was thought to have been walking through her gardens this morning when she was shot.

She was taken to the All India Medical Hospital where she underwent an emergency operation to remove the bullets but died an hour and a half later. Initial reports suggest the two attackers were guards at her home who were then shot by other security officers. No exact motive is known but it is believed the pair were Sikh extremists acting in retaliation for the storming of the Sikh holy shrine of the Golden Temple in Amritsar in June. Mrs Gandhi had been receiving death threats since the attack on the temple in which 1,000 people died. The night before her death she told a political rally: "I don't mind if my life goes in the service of the nation. If I die today, every drop of my blood will invigorate the nation." Security throughout the country has been stepped up. Roads to the hospital and the home of the prime minister have been sealed off and borders around Delhi have been closed. If I die today, every drop of my blood will invigorate the nation Indira Gandhi The Indian cabinet has started an emergency meeting to choose a successor. India's High Commissioner, Prakash Mehrotra, said: "Democracy is very deep rooted in our country and the country is prepared to face any situation.

A meeting is being called in Delhi, it is usual that the number two man in the cabinet takes charge for the time being," Mrs Gandhi first became prime minister in 1966 and again in 1980 and was praised for her battle against famine in rural areas. Stan Orme from the Anglo Indian Parliamentary Association said: "It is a very terrible thing. She was a very impressive person, very strong-willed. It is a real tragedy." 31 october Rating: IMDb SYNOPSIS 31st October, the first mainstream film ever based on the assassination of Indira Gandhi and what it led to. Set against the backdrop of 1984 anti-Sikh riots, the film is a true-life story of a Sikh family and their fight for survival. Produced by Magical Dreams Productions Pvt Ltd and Harry Sachdeva and directed by Shivaji Lotan Patil, ‘31st October’ stars Vir Das and Soha Ali Khan in the lead roles. The film is a depiction of one of the most important dates in Indian history, the day India lost its Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi.

She was shot dead by her own bodyguards, which changed the political scenario of the country to such an extent that many innocent lives were lost and India witnessed a black Wednesday. It is a story of human emotions, conflicts, survival and friendship. HISTORY it is a date that changed the destiny of India. The blackest day in her recent past. It only took a moment, one moment of an absent conscious that turned brothers into bloodthirsty cannibals. More than 10000 Sikhs were massacred and many more thousands were rendered homeless and made to flee. The 1984 anti-Sikhs riots or the 1984 Sikh Massacre were a series of pogroms directed against Sikhs in India, by anti-Sikh mobs, in response to the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. There were more than 8,000 deaths, including 3,000 in Delhi. The Central Bureau of Investigation, the main Indian investigating agency, is of the opinion that the acts of violence were organized with the support from the then Delhi police officials and the central government headed by Indira Gandhi's son, Rajiv Gandhi.

Rajiv Gandhi was sworn in as Prime Minister after his mother's death and, when asked about the riots, said "when a big tree falls, the earth shakes". During the Indian Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi in the 1970s, thousands of Sikhs campaigning for autonomous government were imprisoned. The sporadic violence continued as a result of an armed Sikh separatist group which was designated as a terrorist entity by the Indian government. In June 1984, during Operation Blue Star, Indira Gandhi ordered the Indian Army to attack the Golden Temple and eliminate any insurgents, as it had been occupied by Sikh separatists who were stockpiling weapons. Later operations by Indian paramilitary forces were initiated to clear the separatists from the countryside of Punjab state. The violence in Delhi was triggered by the assassination of Indira Gandhi, India's prime minister, on 31 October 1984, by two of her Sikh bodyguards in response to her actions authorising the military operation. The Indian government reported 2,700 deaths in the ensuing chaos.

In the aftermath of the riots, the Indian government reported 20,000 had fled the city, however the People's Union for Civil Liberties reported "at least" 1,000 displaced persons. The most affected regions were the Sikh neighbourhoods in Delhi. Human rights organisations and newspapers across India believe the massacre was organised. The collusion of political officials in the massacres and the Judiciary's failure to penalise the killers alienated normal Sikhs and increased support for the Khalistan movement. The Akal Takht, the governing religious body of Sikhism, considers the killings to be a genocide. In 2011, Human Rights Watch reported the Government of India had "yet to prosecute those responsible for the mass killings". The 2011 WikiLeaks cable leaks revealed that the United States was convinced about the complicity of the Indian government ruled by the Indian National Congress in the riots, and termed it as "opportunism" and "hatred" of the Congress government against Sikhs. The United States has denied to recognize the riots as genocide, but do acknowledge that "grave human rights violations" did take place.

Also in 2011, a new set of mass graves were discovered in Haryana, and Human Rights Watch reported that "Widespread anti-Sikh attacks in Haryana were part of broader revenge attacks" in India. Facts behind Fiction Why Indira Gandhi was killed…? | |Hinduism| Why Indira Gandhi was killed…? Posted on August 2, 2013 by hinduism75 Indira Gandhi was the 3rd Prime Minister of India, and was assassinated at 9:20 AM on 31st October, 1984. She was killed by her own, two Sikh bodyguards named Satwat Singh and Beant Singh. This was done due to Operation Blue Star, which had two components –Operation Metal (limited to Golden Temple complex) and Operation Shop (to attack the landscape all over the Punjab to capture any suspects). The corresponding operation was launched named as “Operation Wood rose”, comprehensively scanned the Punjab landscape to round up any expect. Since Golden Temple is the most religious place for Sikh community, hence Sikh community was annoyed on Indira Gandhi as she invaded the Golden Temple with Tanks and Guns.

Indira Gandhi was responsible for this since she directed the army to the Golden Temple to kill Bhindranwala. However, the government choose to attack the temple on a spiritual day, more than thousands people were died as it was full of devotees. After visiting to the Golden Temple, her Sikh bodyguard could not hold their anger and decided to take revenge from Indira Gandhi. On October 31st, 1984, Indira Gandhi was on her way to interview by British actor ‘Peter Ustinov’, who was filming a documentary for Irish television. She was walking in the garden of Prime Minister’s Residence at No.1, Safdarjung Road in New Delhi. As she passed a wicket gate, her guard Beant Singh and Satwant Singh fired three shots into her abdomen. Indira Gandhi was brought at 9:30 AM to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, where doctors operated on her. She was declared dead at 2:20 PM. After shooting, Beant Singh and Satwant Singh gave excuse that she had sullied the purity of Golden Temple by sending the army there. After threw their weapons down the said “I have done what I had to do.

You do what you want to do”.Within six minutes, Tarsem Singh Jamwal and Ram saran(soldiers of Indo-Tibetan Border Police) killed Beant Singh and Satwant Singh was arrested. Share this: October 31, 1984 : The prime minister of India is assassinated Introduction Indira Gandhi, the prime minister of India, is assassinated in New Delhi by two of her own bodyguards. Beant Singh and Satwant Singh, both Sikhs, emptied their guns into Gandhi as she walked to her office from an adjoining bungalow. Although the two assailants immediately surrendered, they were both shot in a subsequent scuffle, and Beant died. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India, attempted to forge a unified nation out of the many religious, ethnic, and cultural factions that existed under British rule until 1949. His daughter, Indira Gandhi (no relation to Mohandas Gandhi), rose to power in 1966, fighting many of the same problems as her father had.

Her own political career was a roller coaster, from the highs following India’s victory over Pakistan in 1971 to the lows of being thrown out of office in 1977 after declaring a state of emergency in 1975, during which time she suspended civil liberties and jailed her political opponents. Although many criticized her for being authoritarian, the majority of the population supported her because of her extensive social programs. In 1980, Gandhi became prime minister again, enjoying fairly widespread popularity. However, in June 1984, she ordered an army raid on a Sikh temple in Punjab to flush out armed Sikh extremists, setting off a series of death threats. Due to the fear of assassination, Beant Singh, her longtime bodyguard, was to be transferred because he was a Sikh. However, Gandhi personally rescinded the transfer order because she trusted him after his many years of service. Obviously, this was a fatal mistake for both of them. Satwant Singh, who survived to stand trial, was convicted in 1986 and executed in 1989. Following Gandhi’s assassination, riots broke out in New Delhi.

More than 1,000 innocent Sikhs were killed in indiscriminate attacks over the course of two days. Gandhi’s son, Rajiv, succeeded her as prime minister. Article Details: October 31, 1984 : The prime minister of India is assassinated Author October 31, 1984 : The prime minister of India is assassinated URL BBC ON THIS DAY | 31 | 1984: Assassination and revenge About This Site | Text Only 1984: Assassination and revenge At 9:20am on 31 October 1984 India's prime minister Indira Gandhi was shot by two of her security guards in the garden of her home at No 1, Safdarjung Road in Delhi. The attack led to rioting on a grand scale across India as Hindus took their revenge on Sikhs. At least 1,000 people are thought to have died and the army eventually intervened to quell the violence. The assassination itself was revenge for the raid on Sikhism's holiest shrine in Amritsar to flush out separatist militants who had taken refuge there.

Your memories of Indira Gandhi: I was in 4th grade and in Chennai (then Madras). I still remember the shock that passed through the city learning the news. Panic spread like wild fire and the city shut down fearing riots. My mother came and picked me up when the school closed. All the way home, I remember seeing police jeeps cruising trying to keep control. Later on, I remember, a lot of India grieved her like they would grieve a family member's loss. Lavanya Ramanujan, India I was about 13 years old when this happened. So many years have passed but but the pain remains - for what happened to the Sikh community, for the failure of our democracy to protect the vulnerable and for the failure of our justice system to bring to book the perpetrators of the crimes against the innocent. Indira Gandhi's death was a loss for the nation, but nothing as compared to the loss of confidence each citizen of this country suffered in the very existence of this nation and its sustainability. We as a nation really failed to protect our own citizens and the principles we claim to propound.

I, as a citizen of India, and having lived in the Punjab for a larger part of my life, salute the diehard and brotherly spirit of the Sikhs and apologise for the failures of our people. Today the Sikh community, given their brave spirit, has moved on with life, but for many, the loss was too much to bear. We lost such individuals to the arms of antinational forces or to other nations where they migrated to. For all the hype that India gets in the international media, we must remember that we have many black chapters in our history. Gujarat was a repeat of 1984 and we as a nation continue to fail on most crucial matters. So much for a Security Council seat and the superpower status when our own house is on fire. Albert Savio, India My whole body starts trembling whenever I recall those days. It was the 1st of November, 1984 the day after the Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi was brutally killed by four Sikh �extremist� who were her bodyguards too. We were having evening tea in our house situated in a rural area of Delhi called Narela. Suddenly somebody knocked at the door.

My father went to see who it was and found that it was his friend Abbas Ali who had come to inform us that a cluster of around 200 "fanatics" was marching towards our house and they had already set fire to and looted two Sikh houses in our locality and were on the way to our house. My brother and I were forced to dress up like girls and had to tie up our hairs as girls do, just to hide our identity as Sikh children Inderbir Singh Duggal, India We had very little time to react, we decided to lock the house, and went to one of our neighbor's house to hide us. As a six-year-old child, I could not understand what was going on and why. My father and my uncle had to cut their hair so that nobody could identify them as Sikh. My brother and I were forced to dress up like girls and had to tie up our hairs as girls do, just to hide our identity as Sikh children. After half an hour, we heard that our house had been looted and it was on fire. None of us could sleep that night. The next day all of us went to see our house and the only thing we saw were ashes all around - nothing was left.

The atmosphere was still very hot in the city and we were not secure. At around 10:30 in the morning on the 2nd of November, a police van came and they took us to the police station and from there we were shifted to a riot victim camp. There we met so many of our relatives who had also lost everything. In fact, some of them had lost their loved ones too. We stayed in the camp for around a week and when the atmosphere in the city became calm, we were shifted to our localities. We stayed at our neighbor's house for around a month. Everybody from our colony used to invite us for breakfast, lunch or dinner and a month passed like that. Since my father and my uncle were both in government service, they got government accommodation on riot victim grounds and we shifted to Timarpur, a state government colony. But those who were not in government services had to renovate their houses. Can anyone imagine the amount of compensation we got from the government? It was Rs. 5000! Now after 20 years, we have again managed to get our own house in Delhi, but still I cannot feel secure because incidents like the '84 riots are very common in India.

That time it was the Sikh community which was the target and recently something very similar, or I should say something worse than, the '84 riots happened with Muslims in Gujarat. For me, the major causes behind these communal riots are poverty, jealousy (it is clear that the attacks on the Sikhs had less to do with love for Indira Gandhi and more to do with resentment against them because they were a well-to-do community in Delhi), and the lack of independent thinking, which allows politicians to manipulate religion and fool people into thinking that killing other people serves their religion. What the '84 riots taught me is my own precarious position in the Indian nation but also the shallowness of identity and politics in the subcontinent and in human nature. Inderbir Singh Duggal, India I remember that day clearly. I was just under 5 years old. My mother broke the news to me as she came to pick me from school at about 5pm. I asked her in shock why she had been shot. She had a hard time answering me. I remember the shock that gripped the nation. I remember the mourning. Praveen, India And I remember that not many people knew Indira Gandhi was dead.

State-controlled media, as for as I remember, had not yet broken the news! All we had where I lived in South India was one state-run channel. My father had tuned in BBC radio following the news intently. I remember the shock that gripped the nation. I remember the mourning. For up to a week later there were no programmes on TV including my own favorite children's programme. And at that age I knew some terrible things were happening in Punjab which I did not understand until much later. Looking back at those days it makes me think how quickly time passes. How much has changed. Globalization, the age of Internet and instant news. We are no longer bound by state controlled media. And yet in some ways how little has changed. It is disgusting that nobody has even properly apologised for the Sikh families who were murdered. And the same political petty mindedness that was displayed then is still being displayed today. It seems we have learned very little from the past. But those terrible events are to a large extent behind us. And in spite of some reservations about our politicians I look towards the future with hope.

Praveen, India My Sikh mother's extended family, consisting of seven members living in Delhi at the time, were shocked by news of the death of Indira Gandhi. The event just never seemed a possibility. They, and many others like us, were entirely apathetic to the burgeoning political Khalistan cause in neighbouring Punjab. That all changed in the following days when their Hindu neighbours - acquaintances that they had known for years - turned on them and broke into their small dwelling with blood-soaked machetes. My friend's dad, a street grocer, was fatally shot in the face whilst tending his stall. Thousands of innocent Sikhs like them were massacred in the hysteria that swept Delhi for days. The police and army were guilty bystanders during the witchhunt of any man, woman or child belonging to the Sikh faith. And to this day, the overwhelming majority of the perpretators have not been brought to justice. The scars have not healed. Gurinder Singh, USA I was 10 years old at the time, living in Calcutta, India.

If it makes any difference to even one Sikh person or family, I want them to know that I am really sorry this happened to their community Sanjay, USA I remember being very upset that Indira Gandhi, or India Gandhi as she was fondly called, was murdered by her own body guards. I saw many Sikhs being beaten and killed by angry mobs. I recall my punjabi non-Sikh neighbor's car being smashed and burned. I remember having Punjabi guests in our home at that time whose son was not to be found and his parents were inconsolable. He later returned home after hiding in a cinema hall basement for two days. I also remember that for years I believed that what had happened to the Sikh community was right and that the mobs were justified in making the Sikhs pay for their betrayal. Now, as a more mature and sombre adult, I regret having thought and believed that way, but even more so I regret that no Indian government actually ever formally apologised to the Sikh community. Even now, after two decades, I would occasionally meet a Sikh person who would recount how a loved one was killed and the surrounding family was devastated and their lives were never the same.

If it makes any difference to even one Sikh person or family, I want them to know that I am really sorry this happened to their community, and if it is any consolation for the heinous crimes committed against them, many Indians feel the same way. Sanjay, USA I was in my third standard when this happened. Around 10:00 am that day the school was closed for the day. As we were walking back to our school bus, we walked past the staff room. I saw my teachers in tears, hugging each other, have a kind of tragic look on their faces. Soon there was a rumour that our school principal passed away. Later in the bus, one of the teachers announced that Indira Gandhi has been shot, and she was in hospital and asked us all to pray for her recovery. By the time I reached home, there were a considerable number of people at my home, as we were the only people to own a TV in the neighbourhood.

One of my uncles was so optimistic [saying] that in some war a general was shot 30 times and saved by the doctors, and he said, "She is the prime minister and she has only 16 bullets, she will be alive." I always wished if it was true. My family mourned as if it was death of a family member. To this day, she is the Mother of two generations. Indira is India. Raju, India I was unfortunate to witness the carnage the Hindu mobs had inflicted on the Sikhs and their property. I was approached by a militant Hindu BajRang Dal activist who urged me to attack and kill Sikhs. I declined with shock. It reminded me of stories of Jews and Nazi germany. I fear this event has began the process of disintegration of my country India. Many Sikhs who were once loyal citizens are now ardent seperatists for a independant Khalistan. Ramesh Patel, India I was a teenager at the time of Indira's assasination. That noon I was scheduled to take my ailing grandmother by train for radiotherapy in Delhi. Fortunately, the news came before we could leave and possibly saved our lives.

The neighbours turned on their neighbours and the Indian civilisation broke down in two separate societies Arvind Singh, USA This cerfew was only limited to the Sikhs as the mobs were free to roam around the city and raise slogans - Blood for Blood! Our Hindu neighbours brought food and supplies for the next five days while we were confined to our homes by police cerfew. Not all neighbours were as good as ours. In most places, the neighbours turned on their neighbours and the Indian civilisation broke down in two separate societies. I no longer considered myself Indian and subsequently left India forever. The Sikhs will remember the massacre forever and we will make our best efforts to show the TRUTH to the world. Shame to India, Gandhi family and the Congress Party that indulged in merciless killing of innocent people. Arvind Singh, USA I was 7 years old when the ghastly incidents unfolded in the summer and fall of 1984. At that age I wasn't quite sure what was going on but I have been told many stories by my parents who protected me and my brother from murderous mobs in Delhi.

We were fortunate enough to have lived in a relatively affluent part of South Delhi at that time and could take refuge during the worst of the riots at our Hindu friend's home. I do remember one thing though - a red X on our house indicating that our house was inhabited by Sikhs, shameful for a "civilized", "secular" and "democratic" nation. K Bains, Canada I was 12 years old. It was the day of our annual performance benefit for our school held at the Music Academy of Madras. We were at the Academy early that day, doing a full dress rehearsal when someone first said the president of India was shot dead. Soon the news was rectified and we found out that it was the prime minister. There was palpable fear and tension in the air. We were shipped back to the school, and our parents were expected to come pick us up. We heard of gangs of men roaming the streets demanding all shops be closed and generally causing unrest. It was late afternoon when my father showed up, a civil servant, on a borrowed bicycle from his peon. I saw en route great many groups of men, as they had told us earlier, roaming the streets.

I saw one man with a huge sword, yes, a sword. Not a machete, of which there were many, and many cricket bats and other assorted weapons, real and improvised. It was a miracle to reach home safely. My mother and my younger brother had walked home, by then and were waiting for us anxiously. We found out later there was much violence, in particular against Sikhs, and much of it was concentrated near the area of my school. I was very troubled and anguished - both for Mrs Gandhi, who we heard was taken to the hospital in the bloody arms of her daughter-in-law, Mrs Sonia Gandhi - as well as the victims of violence of that day, and the many following days. It is a shame, that we can not as a human society find our way past revenge and retribution. Vennila nr Kain, USA I was in Patna, Bihar. My mother was ending two days of fasting for the Chatt festival in the state of Bihar. Our family had gone to the ghats of the Ganges, where my mother offered prayers to the Sun God. It was an auspicious day for everybody in Bihar.

After the exchange of greetings and blessings from elders the children of the household settled down in front of the television. Suddenly the regular programming was interuppted and newscaster Salma Sultan broke the news that Mrs Gandhi was attacked by gunmen this morning and that she is undergoing an emergency operation. The mood in the house turned from joy to shock in a second. A minute later the phone rang and my uncle on the other side asked my father if he heard the news. Soon the word spread and people collected in groups talking about what is next after Mrs Gandhi, who is responsible, is there a bigger plot etc. The evening news bought the offical confirmation of her assassination. The organised roiting and killing of Sikhs that followed was shameful. Mukul, USA I was 12 years old when when the attack on the Golden Temple occurred and innocent citizens were killed. The feelings and pain of being violated are still raw. The death of Mrs Gandhi is sad because death is sad but I must say that it was expected. As Sikhs we saw her no different than many in American see Osama bin Laden.

Varinder Singh Rathore, USA The one who would have killed Hitler would have been a hero, The one who would have killed Saddam would have been a hero. The ones who killed Indira Gandhi is and still are heroes. It's amusing how the Mr Mehrotra in the news article talks about democracy when the same regime barred the human rights activists and journalists from entering Punjab, when Indira Gandhi was committing the worst massacre of Sikhs in Punjab. Not only this, the party workers of same party were butchering Sikhs in Delhi. It really perturbs that the Sikhs who gave 85% for freedom struggle for a country that never existed before (India which is a creation of British Empire) were and are still being tortured by the same country and Indira Gandhi's role is not unfolded by the media. Harmeet Singh, Punjab I was in school, when someone floated a rumour that Indira Gandhi had been shot. Later our principal told us to take a half day and go straight home. We got the confirmed news in the evening. We couldn't believe that it could have actually happened - it was like a cruel joke had been played on India.

The most eerie and dastardly aspect was that the deed had been perpetrated by those who had sworn to protect her. Everyone was sobbing - it was a horrendous day. Madhu, India I was 12 years old and was in school when this news broke. Everybody in our house was sad and we were angry that her own bodyguards had done this to her. Then the riots broke out and I felt ashamed to be an Indian. Innocent men women and children of a brave and sacrificing community were killed on the streets of Delhi for no fault of theirs. This is something I will never forget. Once I grew up and learnt more about the woman, I realised that she ended up reaping what she sowed. For me Beant and Satwant Singh are heroes who freed the country from the evil clutches of the Gandhi mafia. Annie Singh, USA I was studying in first standard in a government lower primary school then. One teacher, called Mohammed came to our class to announce this news. He was a strong person in our calculations, but he was shivering. The school remained closed for a week.

At that time we too hated Sikhs but we never heard the news of mass carnage which took place in the capital of India as a revenge to the prime minister's death. Most of our media concealed the truth, and I was not in an age to understand the seriousness of those killings. Now after two decades the picture is clear to me. I am a journalist now and trying to tell the world we were wrong. We are guilty. Savad Rahman, India I remember watching news coverage of the rioting that [followed] the assassination of Indira Gandhi. I saw a Sikh woman running with her son (10-12yrs old) towards the line of army personnel. The Hindu mob chasing them caught them not more than 20 yards from the army line. They put burning necklaces of tyres onto the unfortunate pair and burned them alive. The army stood and watched. Those harrowing scenes will remain with me for the rest of my life. Rahul I was seven years old when this event happened, and I can never forget what I went through that day.

I was enjoying a week long holiday with my mum, dad and sister in Kashmir and we had only just arrived the previous day when this incident happened, and then there was chaos everywhere. We had trouble even getting out of our hotel, let alone going to the airport to catch a plane to go back to Mumbai. We were listening to the news on the radio and found out that some people were celebrating the death of Indira Gandhi by bursting crackers, distributing sweets and hoisting Pakistan's flag in Kashmir. Finally we somehow managed to catch a flight back and realised the enormity of the situation when we watched the news on TV. I can never forget that day. I admired Indiraji for her courage and strength, her death was a great loss to India. May her soul rest in peace. Shraddha Kane, UK I was 14 years old and remember the day like it was yesterday. We were in school and were sent home. Even though we were sikhs, we never supported any claims for Khalistan or Punjab, growing up in the capital since birth - we never thought in religious terms, we were also shocked and saddenned to hear about Mrs Gandhis death. She was a very instrumental politician.

We were home the next morning and went to the roof of our house. The sun could not be seen there was smoke everywhere. The stench of death and fire was in the air. Suddenly we heard a loud roar and ran back inside. Iit was a mob being led by a local congress leader with a list of electoral documents in his hand to exactly pinpoint where Sikhs were residing. We hid in the house and later learnt that this mob had just set fire to various residences in our very posh Delhi neighbourhood and had just burnt down the local Sikh gurudwara. The mob collected outside our house. I peeked from the second floor window and saw a group of about 50 people standing outside our gates with various weapons, while one person was going through some papers scanning them quickly. Our relatives that lived on the first floor ran up also to join us and we all huddled in fear. It seemed like the end was here and it would only be moments before the mob would break through the gates and set upon us. And then I heard a voice, it was as if GOD had sent an angel to disperse the crowd.

It was our next door Hindu neighbour and I remember him in a very firm yet authoratative tone talking to the mob. He said all the people that live here are our own people. Then for what seemed like an eternity the mob chanted some slogans and started to move on. We could hardly believe our luck. The will of GOD had saved us and this old neighbour with his commanding presence had talked the crowd to move on with a few simple words. Those emotional scars have caused me to leave India at the age of 19 And I have not visited or gone back for almost 15 years. It has turned me into a cynic who will not even visit India because of that one incident. Bobby Singh, USA I was four years old. My sister, cousin, brother, mother and me were walking back home in the afternoon from the school bus stop, when we heard someone yelling that Indira Gandhi had been killed. Once we reached home we all sat around the radio, listening to the story in shock. My next memories are of my uncle and the other men in our colony forming huge groups and patrolling the neighbourhood throughout the night armed with knifes, sticks etc. to protect the Sikh neighbours in our colony.

All Sikhs were given shelter in neighbours houses. The name plates in front of the houses were removed. The young Sikh boys were dressed as girls, while others cut their hair. There was so much tension in the air. Anusha K Schneider, India On 31 October 1984 I was due to fly to Calcutta on an SAS flight via Copenhagen from Gatwick. I was travelling with my father. The weather was terrible in Gatwick and the airport was totally fog bound. My father and I watched as the "CANCELLED" sign flashed up on the departure board for practically every flight. Our flight was one of the few for which there was no information. Long after the boarding time for the flight had come and gone our names were announced on the tannoy. My mother, who had come to see us off, was still in the airport and suggested, very calmly, that we leave the departure lounge and forget about boarding. We did so, thinking her concern must have been weather related. Only in the long car journey back to North Yorkshire, when we switched on the radio, did I realise the wisdom of her advice. "After the assasination of Indira Gandhi..." came the presenter's voice.

Even at my age I knew that spelt bloodshed. Our flight might have been held in Karachi for hours and several travellers were thrown into the mel�e when they arrived in India that night. Instead, I got home and went to bed. The next day was my 11th birthday. Ms Sarma, UK I am 32 years old now, I was about 12 years or so at the time. You know it has been twenty years, twenty years! I cannot imagine. As I remember our first house in India was being built around that time, and we did not have TV in our home, so we watched the death ceremony in our neighour's house. I remember the mourning of general public on TV and I vividly remember our greatest TV star Amitabh Bachhan crying for Indira Ghandhi. I don't know how a person can be so attached to the prime minister of his/her country. We watched the whole ceremony on the TV just like a soap opera. And we enjoyed our off days at school for 13 days. What can a 12 year boy can think of? And I remember about the riots that happened in our small city.

Bareilly, this is a city in north of India in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Usually Bareilly is a peace loving city, but I remember one incident. One of the friends of my eldest brother was a Sikh, and he had to cut off all his hair so that Hindus did not think him as a Sikh, and did not harm him. And yeah there was curfew also in our small Mohalla (like a county in US) Subhash Nagar. And I remember one more thing after the death, my another elder bought a book about Indira, with pictures of her. I remember two pictures one Indira Ghandhi standing along the border (I don't remember which one Pakistan or China), and one Indira Ghandhi eating roasted corn. Saharsh Shroteiya, USA It was a sad demise of Mother Indira who was a role mother and an iron lady of India which is my second home. Her good works would never go in vain. She was an example in every respect. I love her and shall ever have a respectful position in my heart. I would like to salute her from the hight of Mount Everest for being Indira. I don't think anybody would be able to take her position.

Khem, Nepal I still remember vividly the day Mrs Gandhi was killed by her sikh bodyguard; I was Just 11 years old at the time and hardly understood world politics and happennings around the world. We were crazy about playing cricket those days and we used watch telecast on TV and the state owned Doordarshan in those days. On that day India playing was test cricket with some country, and suddenly the match was suspended, that's what all I remember. I have preserved the English newspaper which flashed the news of this shocking and unfortunate incident. I remember the banner headline of a tabloid newspaper, which said: "stop this madness," quoting Mr Rajiv Gandhi. Indian politics was never the same again. We had a rough and tumultous time afterwards. Hundreds of innocent Sikhs lost their lives and the scars are still fresh for many of them. Mrs Gandhi was successful in defeating Sikh militancy who demanded a separate Sikh land called Khalistan. But the repercussions were dangerous and she was eventually assassinated in a very inhuman and dastardly fashion. Henceforward India was never the same again.

Nawal Thorat, India I was 12 year old at the time and remember how happy we were to get a day off from the school. My father being a staff of the Ministry of Defence thought that it would be safe enough to do some shopping in evening. As we were riding on scooter to the market we were stopped by some angels (Hindus of course) telling us not to proceed any further. My father was confused as to why would any one attack a Sikh and his child particularly when he was in the army. He did however take their advice and we returned. The next few days were the scariest days of my life. Thousands of Sikhs were reported killed, innocent girls raped by crowds. Police stood watching... We survived due to our helpful and kind hearted South Indian neighbours but the scars will remain for the rest of my life. Ranveer Singh, Hong Kong I have vivid memories of this day working as trainee doctor at Rajendra Prasad Centre which was the Eye Unit of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences where Mrs Gandhi was taken for further treatment.

It was a Wednesday mid-morning when I suddenly noticed the out patient department, which is normally full of people was empty, and when I managed to look out of the clinic, I could see a sea of humanity in the main quadangle in front of private wards. By then, even before the BBC annouced her death, rumours had gone around and her Sikh body guards were implicated. This set off mini riots in the hospital and President Zail Singh's car was attacked and the Indian President had to be whisked away through the back door. By evening when I was doing the ward rounds the anti-Sikh riots were in full swing and ordinary Sikh man was chased down the corridors of the hospital by an angry mob in an attempt to attack him. I did manage to save this man's life by giving him an eye patch asking him to occupy one the empty beds in the hospital and requested him to pretend to be one of the patients. The angry mob eventually left the hospital without succeding to get their victim. Meanwhile Mrs Gandhi had also donated her eyes for corneal grafting and unfortunately in the political storm the eyes could not retrieved in time. It would have been a great advertisement for eye donation in India and I still think was a missed opportunity.

Dr Raghu Ram, UK I was out playing with my friends when my grandmother told me that we are going to a friends' place to watch Indira Gandhi's funeral on colour TV. We had a black and white television and I'd never seen a colour TV, so I agreed. That's when I found out she was our prime minister. My mum, then pointed out, "Remember the Operation Bluestar incident?" [the storming of the Sikh Golden Temple at Amritsar by the Indian Army] "Some say she got killed cause of that". Our family was heading for Jammu and Kashmir then (on day of operation blue star) and our train had a routine stop in Amritsar (in Punjab), but it stayed there longer than expected. We got down and refreshed ourselves with a cup of coffee when my mom came running towards me and said we have to abandon this train and take another one that was arriving shortly and moving away from Punjab. We boarded the other train in a matter of minutes with many people hanging to the door. Our parents threw us in and my dad got in when the train was still in motion. As we exited the station, we saw men running around with lit torches. That's all I could remember.

I later learnt that people were reacting to the Operation Bluestar incident. My mom described Indira as "a lady who tried to make a difference to the citizens of Mother India". Some of my friends (sikh) friends believed that she was being punished for the Operation Bluestar incident, in which she played an instrumental role. We still have a picture of Rajiv and Indira Gandhi hanging from our walls to this day. We deck them with flowers, a custom for bestowing respect to the ones that have crossed over (dead). Prakash Krishnamoorthy, USA Narendra Modi says Congress can't lecture on tolerance after 1984 Sikh riots - India.com Comments Narendra Modi says Congress can't lecture on tolerance after 1984 Sikh riots New Delhi, November 2: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday while addressing a public rally in Bihar said that Congress cannot lecture Bhartiya Janata Party on tolerance after what happened during 1984 Sikh riots. While addressing his rally in Purnea region of Bihar, Modi said, to recall what happened on 2nd November 1984, in next three days after Indira Gandhi was killed by her own bodyguards.

Around 3000 Sikhs were brutally murdered in three days after Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her own bodyguards on 31st October 1984. Read Also: (Sonia Gandhi Rahul Gandhi to meet Pranab Mukherjee) On Monday Congress president Sonia Gandhi decided to one-on-one meeting with President Pranab Mukherjee over the ‘rising intolerance’, attacks on rationalists and murders based on suspicion of cow slaughter and beef-eating. On Tuesday a meeting will be held at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, where Sonia Gandhi will submit a memorandum along with a delegation ‘on issues of tolerance’. In last few days several activists, writers and film-makers had returned their award given to them by the government due to the ‘rising tolerance’ in the country. Today on the 31st anniversary of the 1984 Sikh riots, Modi said, “There were serious allegations made against Congress government and its workers in Delhi during the mass Sikh killings during 1984”. He further added that, “Justice has still not been delivered to the families of Sikh, who died during the riots”.

Modi who addressed almost 30 rallies in Bihar during the 2015 assembly elections also attacked Nitish Yadav and his government in his last rally held at Purnea district in Bihar. Modi said, “People of Bihar only accepted Nitish because he was lucky enough to have Atalji’s blessings, whom nation had faith in him. But now you don’t have blessings of Atalji and now people will won’t accept you any more”. Modi’s rally which was attended by almost lakh of people, said, “Bihar was ruled by Lalu Yadav (Bada Bhai) for 15 years and by Nitish Yadav (Chota Bhai) for 10 years. My government is in power since last 25 months and RJD, JDU have ruled the state for 25 years. Why not they answer what they have done for the state?”.

Published Date: November 2, 2015 1:06 PM IST 20 Jan, 2017 11:30 IST Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai 20 Jan, 2017 16:00 IST Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai 20 Jan, 2017 21:30 IST SuperSport Park, Centurion 22 Jan, 2017 08:50 IST | 03:20 GMT Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), Sydney 22 Jan, 2017 13:30 IST | 08:00 GMT Eden Gardens, Kolkata 22 Jan, 2017 18:00 IST | 12:30 GMT The Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg 25 Jan, 2017 21:30 IST | 16:00 GMT Newlands, Cape Town 26 Jan, 2017 08:50 IST | 03:20 GMT Adelaide Oval, Adelaide Indira Gandhi Memorial Museum - Indira Gandhi Memorial Museum in Delhi, Ind

ira Gandhi Museum New Delhi India Indira Gandhi Memorial Museum Indira Gandhi Memorial Museum This article provides information on the Indira Gandhi Memorial Museum of New Delhi, India.

Indira Gandhi Memorial Museum was the residence of the former Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi. It is where her own bodyguards assassinated her on 31st October 1984. It was later converted into a museum, after her assassination. Indira Gandhi Memorial Museum preserves her personal belongings very well, and in such a manner, that they are rendered alive by merely their presentation. One can see the sari she was wearing when she was assassinated, a collection of rare photographs of the Nationalist movement, the personal moments of the Nehru-Gandhi family and her childhood photographs with the Mahatma. The museum also contains burnt clothes of Indira Gandhi's son Rajeev Gandhi, which he was wearing at the time of his assassination. He was also one of the former Prime Ministers of lndia. One can also see some of the rare photographs clicked by him, depicting the happy times of his life. As you arrive in the gardens outside the museum, you can see the spot where Indira Gandhi was actually assassinated and fell. Dried blood spots can be seen enclosed in a glass frame at the same spot. Do not miss the last writings of the lady, hung on the entrance.

It portrays the love of the leader for the nation and the countrymen. It reveals her spirit and sense of service for the motherland, inspite of the threat to her life. 31st October Story, 31st October Hindi Movie Story, Preview, Synopsis - FilmiBeat Close 31st October Story 31st October movie is based on the assassination of Indira Gandhi and what it led to. Set against the backdrop of 1984 anti-Sikh riots, the film is a true-life story of a Sikh family and their fight for survival. The film is a depiction of one of the most important dates in Indian history, the day India lost its Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. She was shot dead by her own bodyguards, which changed the political scenario of the country to such an extent that many innocent lives were lost and India witnessed a black Wednesday. It is a story of human emotions, conflicts, survival and friendship. ** Note: Hey! Would you like to share the story of the movie 31st October with us? Please send it to us ( popcorn@oneindia.co.in ) Go to

Question: Who was assassinated by her own bodyguards on 31st October 1984?
Answer: Indira Gandhi